Larry
Ellison, the man whose contagious enthusiasm and clear vision has
transformed the annual Indian Wells event in early March from a very
good tournament into one so supreme the BNP Paribas Open frankly leaves
some of the esteemed Grand Slam events in its’ wake, has been named Bob
Larson’s Tennis News’ Person Of the Year 2013.

Four years have now
passed since Ellison, according to Forbes magazine the world’s fifth
richest man and third wealthiest American, decided being a committed
tennis fan was enough to satisfy his passion for the sport and paid a
reported $100 million for the tournament Charlie Pasarell and Raymond
Moore had built from the desert floor of California’s Coachella Valley.

Ellison wanted to make the Indian Wells
Tennis Garden a site that every other tournament looked at with
admiration and a certain sense of envy. He didn’t want his tournament to
continue with a reputation of just being one of the more successful
stops on the tennis tour, he wanted it to be the very best. Or at least
supreme outside the sacrosanct domain of the sport’s four Grand Slam
venues.

He knew there was scope
for expansion and improvement, and he made it known money was not a
problem. So in 2011, in his mission to continually raise the bar, he
made sure Hawk-Eye line calling technology was in place for all eight of
the tournament’s match courts.

More than that he
appreciated the top performers merit top dollar and last year, after a
considerable amount of political sparring with the ATP World Tour board
of directors, Ellison was allowed to grant more than $860,000 of
additional prize money across both the singles and doubles in both male
and female events.

So every player was
guaranteed to earn above the minimum prize money levels per round
established for the tournament. Not everyone was happy but that is so
often the way in the business of improvement and innovation.

Ellison is a fan of
many sports and last September his Oracle Team USA yacht team made
global news by succeeding with one of the greatest comebacks ever known
to retain the Americas Cup. In just a few weeks his focus will be fully
committed to tennis again with the 2014 version of the BNP Paribas Open
and the opening of a new permanent 8,000 seat second stadium, a new box
office, four additional practice courts, added restaurants and many
other features to make the site more fan-friendly.

Tennis News publisher
Bob Larson summed up the thinking behind Ellison receiving the award
when he said: “He has been selected for his impact on tennis this year
by making his tournament a very powerful one. He stepped forward
increasing prize money for both men and women.

“He also increased the
footprint of his tournament in Indian Wells. In addition to increasing
the size of the venue he is also doing some innovative things in the new
stadium, such as bringing in upscale dining facilities for the
spectators. Attendance at the event brings it up to impressive figures.”

Ellison follows a list
of notable tennis names that have received this award. Tennis Channel
creator Steve Bellamy was the inaugural recipient in 2005 followed by
Peter Burwash, the esteemed Canadian coach who set out his mission to
take tennis to every part of the globe.

Arlen Kantarian,
arguably the United States’ Tennis Association’s most go-getting CEO of
professional tennis followed in 2007 and next year the award went to the
one and only Nick Bollettieri. John Muir, head of Wilson Racquet Sports
and president of the Tennis Industry Association was honored in 2009 and
Stacy Allaster’s work as CEO of the WTA was recognized the following
year.

Tennis’s most generous
sponsor BNP Paribas was a worthy winner in 2011 and last year for the
first time, two of the playing fraternity got their hands on the award,
the record breaking doubles tandem of Bob and Mike Bryan. Now Larry
Ellison has his name added to the esteemed list.

In Spite Of Loss
In Brisbane Finals Federer Is Pleased With His Play

Despite
a 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 loss in the Brisbane final to Lleyton Hewitt, Roger
Federer is well pleased with his start to the 2014 season after coming
off of a year to forget. The Swiss travels to Melbourne for next
Monday's start of the Australian Open with good confidence despite
getting off to the slowest of starts in the final against his longtime
Aussie rival.

"I haven't thought about it a whole lot,"
17-time grand slam winner Federer said of his chances to lift a possible
fifth title in Melbourne. "I think I can play very well. I think I was
able to sort of serve better overall, more consistent this week than I
have in a long time. So that's very good."

Federer was pleased with his decision to
begin the year in Australia for the first time as he made a popular
debut but in Brisbane which resulted in a record crowd in excess of
100,000 fans through the gate of the event. He also played in the
doubles just to sharpen his eye and reached the semi-finals with Nicolas
Mahut.

"I feel pretty good, especially having played
all the matches I have here now, with the doubles in particular, it's a
good thing -- I didn't quite know what to expect from myself before the
tournament. I played consistent, I must say," Federer said.

After dealing with back pain in 2013, Federer
added: "I'm pretty pleased just that my body is holding up good in the
first week, because you don't quite know what to expect. Overall there
were many good things (this week). I need to get to Melbourne and see
what the court speed is down there and then you'll have a real good idea
of what you need to work on."

Azarenka Hopes To
Find The Zone In Australia

It’s
very uncommon for the first tournament of the season to feature four
women who has claimed the No.1 ranking to reach the semifinals, but that
what occurred in Brisbane when current No. 1 Serena Williams and three
other players who have reigned as queens of the sport made it to the
final four.

Some players would
rather have an easier field in trying to warm up for majors, but not
Victoria Azarenka who says she prefers quality every time out. She’ll
need it when she faces Williams in the final.

“I don't think it's
ever too early,” Azarenka said. “ I always want to play against the
best players every week. That's what I'm here for, to go every day and
try to beat the best. If you want to win big titles and big tournaments
you got to play against the best players, so I feel great about having
that challenge every time I step on the court. If there is no challenge
it seems boring and unmotivating.”

Azarenka realizes that
if she is going to win her third straight Australian Open title, that
she is going to have to play at a higher level against Williams than she
showed overall in her wins over Stephanie Voegele and Jelena Jankovic
in Brisbane, both of which were hard fought and harrowing three set
wins.

At some point she is
going to have to find her way into the proverbial zone, which she
reached in 2012 when she crushed Maria Sharapova for her first major
crown at the Aussie Open.

“You can never predict
that,” she said.: You can never think, Okay, right now I'm going to be
in the zone. It just happens. The things you go through, sometimes how
you pull out the match when you're down or when you have to save a match
point, it's tough to explain what was going on in that moment because
it's a feeling. The thoughts that go through your mind are like
thousand thoughts. Boom, boom, boom. Sometimes you're just like, Okay,
well, the ball comes. So it's very tough to predict and explain how you
feel in that moment. You just know because it feels good.”

The 24-year-old
Azarenka was the only player to score two wins over Williams last year.
But once again, Williams showed her champion’s mettle in inching past
Sharapova in the other Brisbane semi. Williams bested Azarenka in the US
Open final, so now it’s on the Belarusian to once again show she can
stay with her in 2014.

“That's the goal.”
Azarenka said. “That's the goal for sure, you know, to keep challenging,
to keep trying to do the best you can and try to win.”

Murray Not Expecting
Miracles In Melbourne

With
just two ATP World Tour singles matches to his name after a three month
absence enforced by back surgery, Wimbledon champion Andy Murray has
categorically admitted it would be ‘unrealistic’ to expect to win
the Australian Open with such limited opportunity to get acclimated to
tennis competition at the highest level.

In the long-term,
Murray is convinced the back surgery he underwent at the end of
September will benefit both his tennis and quality of life outside of
the court. But after losing to German Florian Mayer and winning a
relatively meaningless 6-0,6-0 Qatar ExxonMobil Open encounter against
2,129th ranked local teenager Mousa Shanan Zayed, the world
no.4 admits he will be grossly underprepared when the Grand Slam action
begins in just nine days’ time.

Before leaving on a 14
hours flight from Doha to Melbourne, Murray took stock of his match play
since returning, which apart from his singles outings this week amounts
to two exhibition run-outs in Abu Dhabi and two doubles matches, and
admitted: “I wouldn’t expect to win the Australian Open.

“In terms of
expectations I have no idea, to be honest. I wouldn’t like to say
whether I’d be happy reaching the second week, or winning it, or
whatever. I’ll have to see how the next 10 days or so go. You can get a
lot done in that time.”

Murray felt his lack of
match fitness contributed to him allowing the match against Mayer slip
off the hook. He led by a set and 3-0 before comprehensively losing his
momentum to meet a second round exit in three sets.

“The way I was playing
for half the match against Mayer I would be very happy with, but being
able to maintain that for five sets is tricky,” he stated. “Having a day
off between matches would help me and also I’m going to get fitter by
playing matches, so there’s a possibility that if I can get through a
couple of rounds I’ll start to feel better as the tournament goes on. My
body will start to feel better.”

The most match play
Murray will get before the start of the Australian Open is a match or
two at the exhibition AAMI Classic at Kooyong. He has declined wild card
invitations into both the Apia International in Sydney and Auckland’s
Heineken Open, sticking by his long-term policy of not playing a full
ATP World Tour event in the week before a major.

Instead he will spend the majority of his
preparation time in the next week playing sets against top-flight
performers on the Melbourne Park practice courts. “That’s one thing I
could have maybe done a bit more when I was over in Miami, but I didn’t
take more than one day off at a time and I trained for about 10 and a
half weeks, so by the end of the training block I wasn’t fresh,” Murray
said.

“I was tired. Playing
points and sets is the hardest part of what we do. The points and stuff
I got at the end of the training block weren’t particularly good because
I was fatigued. That kind of showed against Mayer. Towards the end of
the second set and the beginning of the third, my intensity definitely
dropped a bit – and you can’t do that against these guys.”

Murray concluded: “This
week was a good experience for me. It’s quite stressful playing your
first match back. Doing all the training stuff is great, but then when
you actually go out to play a match again in front of crowds and when
you haven’t done it for a while you’re a little bit nervous and it’s
different.

“It feels like a new
experience again. So just getting back on the court again is good for
me. I’ll start to feel more comfortable the more matches I play.”

Hobart Organizers
Were Stunned With Williams’ Withdrawal “To Rest”

WTA
organizers were dealt a body blow as seven-time grand slam winner Venus
Williams withdrew from the pre-Australian Open event to rest after
losing a final in New Zealand at the weekend to Ana Ivanovic. Williams,
33, pulled the plug on her participation, with her camp saying she
needed to rest before next Monday's start of the grand slam in
Melbourne.

"After a long week during my first tournament of the year, my body needs
time to rest and recover," the number 47 said in a statement,
"Unfortunately, I am not able to play this week in Hobart. I sincerely
do hope to play there in the coming years."

Williams, a former number one who now plays a shadow of her former game,
last won a title in October, 2012, and claimed her last major title six
years ago. "I know it was a hard decision and we wish her the best of
luck for the Australian Open," tournament director Mark Handley told
local media.

Williams was sighted at Melbourne Park at the weekend as she prepared
for a week of private training.

Nadal Relaxes In
Doha After Tournament Win

Rafael
Nadal is so relaxed after starting his year with a first ever Qatar
ExxonMobil Open title that he saw no need to rush for a flight to
Australia and instead spent a leisurely day off in Doha catching up with
his former football idol Raul and relaxing with his family.

The world no.1 was
unconcerned that his main rival Novak Djokovic was already practicing at
the Australian Open site and acclimatizing to Melbourne conditions or
that Roger Federer was getting used to the antipodean heat, playing the
Brisbane International final against Lleyton Hewitt.

After braving the
evening chill of the Arabian Gulf to beat Gael Monfils 6-1, 6-7, 6-2 and
move above Andre Agassi into a clear eighth position in the all-time
list of trophy winners with 61 titles, that well known creature of habit
Nadal was no mood to change a routine.

Wherever he is playing
around the world, he always aims to arrive at the site of a Grand Slam
to begin practice on the Tuesday before action begins. So he was content
to catch a 1am Monday flight out of Doha and utilize eight hours of time
difference in his favor.

“Even if I had lost
here in the first round, I would still have the ticket [to Melbourne]
for Sunday night and I think is enough time for me,” said Nadal who had
a long-standing lunch arrangement with Raul, the Real Madrid all-time
top goal scorer who has been playing for the Qatar Stars League team Al
Saad for nearly two years.

“I feel being so long
time in the same place and waiting for the tournament is something that
few things are positive and other things are negative. So I am happy
here. I have a day off here in Doha, and then I fly.

“So I am going to
arrive there in Melbourne on Monday evening and I’m going to practice on
Tuesday at 4pm like I always do. I’m going to have almost a week to
practice well there, and I think hopefully will be enough to acclimate
my game to Australia. If your game is not adapted in six days, you will
never be adapted. That's my feeling.”

Nadal’s title win took
his haul to 11 since he returned to the game 11 months ago after
protracted knee issues. He missed last year’s Australian Open but could
not be feeling happier on his return to Melbourne Park where he has won
the title just once, in 2009.

“I don't go there
thinking about the adaptation of my game,” insisted Nadal who recaptured
his best form against Monfils after indifferent performances against two
Germans, 74th ranked Tobias Kamke and world no.162 Peter
Gojowczyk. “I go in there thinking about the things that I want to keep
practicing to be very competitive there. I want to keep practicing in
the same way that I played today. I think that's the right way.”

However Nadal felt like
taking one more dig at the ATP World Tour calendar, something he
delights in criticizing. “It's tough because Australian Open is very
early,” he said. “It would be better to play such an important
tournament a little bit later in the season. That's the real thing.
Because when it is the third tournament of the season, or second
tournament of the season for me, you are competing for one of the most
important titles. So for me that something a little bit strange.

“But in the end every
year is same. It is nothing new for me and for us. I hope to have a
good week of preparation there in Melbourne and try to adapt my game to
that quick surface and hope to be ready for next Monday.”

Robson’s Wrist
Problems May Keep Her Out Of The Australian Open

Laura
Robson’s chances of even starting the Australian Open have been thrown
into doubt following the British no. 1 being forced to retire midway
through her first match of the year at the Hobart International earlier
today because of ongoing wrist problems.

The 19 year-old, who
during the off-season announced a new coaching relationship with Nick
Saviano and Jesse Witten, never even made it onto court at last week’s
ASB Classic in Auckland when the injured left wrist forced her to
withdraw before the tournament started.

In Hobart, Robson
managed to win the first set 6-4 against 61st ranked Belgian
Yanina Wickmayer but then the player whose ranking has been slipping
steadily since achieving a career high of 27 just after Wimbledon and
now stands at 46, opted to retire. The decision came after delivering a
double fault that awarded her opponent an immediate break of serve in
the second set.

Last year Robson
accrued 160 ranking points by reaching the third round of the Australian
Open before losing to eventual semi-finalist Sloane Stephens. Should she
be forced to miss the action at Melbourne Park, Robson would certainly
fall outside the top 50.

Prior to the match,
Robson had told the tournament's official website: “It's going to be my
first match for 2014, so I'm very excited. I haven't played a match so I
don't know how it is going to end up, but in practice it feels okay.”

Later a post on the
tournament's official Twitter feed then indicated Robson's injury was a
recurrence of the previous problem suffered in Auckland. The Hobart
International website reported : “The official reason for Robson's
mid-match retirement today was her wrist.”

After s a holiday
trekking across the Perito Moreno glacier in Argentina, Robson spent the
next five weeks working at her fitness and tennis game at Saviano’s
academy outside Fort Lauderdale in Florida.

Meanwhile Robson’s
British Fed Cup team-mate, Heather Watson whose 2013 schedule was
seriously affected by glandular fever (mononucleosis) and saw her
ranking slip to a current world no.120 after peaking at 39 last
February, insists she is fully match-fit for bid to this week qualify
for the Australian Open.

Watson managed to qualify in Brisbane, then
losing out to 9th seed Dominka Cibulkova but fell to Bethanie
Mattek-Sands in the second round of Sydney’s qualifying. However she
declared: My body's a bit sore after quite a few matches in the past few
days, but that's exactly what I wanted in preparation for the Australian
Open. You can do fitness, but match situations are very different.
There's more pressure, so I feel very match fit."

Cash Laments Lack
Of Young Aussies In The Pro Ranks

As
Pat Cash dips back into tennis briefly at this week's exhibition event
in Adelaide, the World Tennis Challenge, the former Wimbledon winner
admits to mixed feelings about the lack of hard-charging young Aussies
in the current game.

Cash, 48, was pleased to see 32-year-old
Lleyton Hewitt beat Roger Federer for the Brisbane title which began the
ATP season and the run-up to the Australian Open starting in a seek. But
the veteran is also alarmed that younger players - most notably the
43rd-ranked Bernard Tomic - have not stepped up to take over the top
Australian ranking.

"It's really inspiring to see that Lleyton is
32 and is playing so well," said Cash. "But in some ways, it's slightly
disappointing that he is still the top Australian. Lleyton's a great
player - but you would hope to have some other guys in the top 10, 20.
It's inspiring but a little strange to see that Lleyton is still our
top-ranked player."

Cash is betting on the emergence of teenaged
young guns Nick Kyrgios, 18, a Wimbledon junior doubles champion, and
Thanasi Kokkinakis, 17, who will play on the Cash team at the exho which
pits stars from the past, present and future. "Lleyton just goes to show
how experience goes a long way, you see players hitting their peak
mid-20s and even later.

"But we have got a lot of depth. We have got
a lot of good young players coming through and I think that is the
encouraging thing. But it just takes a few years for players these days
to come through."

Coach Nadal
Reveals Some Coaching Secrets

While
every day seems to bring a new high profile coach to the upper echelon
of the ATP World Tour, Toni Nadal remains a constant. And while his
world no.1 nephew Rafael continues to look supreme at the Qatar
ExxonMobil Open in Doha, the senior Nadal is in Brisbane, addressing
Tennis Australia's seminar of 70 coaches.

Uncle Toni outlined his philosophy and
admitted one major reason why there remains to be no threatening
challenge from younger players to the quartet of his nephew, Roger
Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, who have won 34 of the past 35
Grand Slam titles is a lack of respect to coaches and a wariness of hard
work along with absolute commitment.

He wonders when he sees coaches being
totally subservient to their young players and said: “Never in my life,
I bring the racquet to the practice. Almost never, I bring the racquets
to the stringers. Or water to the court for Rafael. The young players
now play really good, but make many mistakes.”

Uncle Toni
was prepared to elaborate. “Coaches come for players with water, with
food - many times I see the player go to the court for practice and the
player goes with nothing and the coach has the bag,” he observed. “I
have seen many times players who talk to his coach so bad.

“The players should have respect for the
coach and all the people, the same as someone who cleans this apartment.
It is a problem.”

And Uncle Toni admits there is a family
understanding that whenever his charge loses – and admittedly that
hasn’t been very often of late – it is agreed Rafa is the man to blame
rather than his coach.

"Never, when Rafael lose, it is my fault. If
Rafael lose, it's (his) fault and it's true. When he wins his matches,
it's for him," Toni Nadal said.

"For this reason too, Rafael has never
changed his coach. Now, he is maybe the only one who has the same coach,
the other players changed their coach because the players are tired (of
hearing) all the same (things) from the same people."

Mother Dellacqua Is
Content And Progressing

Just
after Alicia Molik became the show stopper at the Australian Open and
before Jelena Dokic wowed the crowds at Rod Laver Arena, the quiet
lefthander Casey Dellacqua raised the roof, coming out of nowhere in
2008 to reach the fourth round, upsetting No. 15 Patty Schnyder and No.
1 Amelie Mauresmo before going down to No. 3 Jelena Jankovic.

Dellacqua has had an up
and down career since then, somewhat due to debilitating injuries, but
she regained confidence in 2013 on the doubles court when she and her
teenage partner Ashleigh Barty reached three Grand Slam finals.

But even though she is
ranked No.142, the 28, she has not given up on her singles career. She
is a mother now and the bread earner in her family. Having to help her
partner Amanda take care of their baby son, Blake, has given her a new
perspective on life and her career. She says that being a parent has
made her more content.

“At the end of the day,
whether I win or lose, I walk off and get to go home to my wonderful
family,” she said. I'm very lucky in that respect. It's one of the
things I don't feel pressure in the sense I have to support them
anymore. I've had a successful career today, and I'm now out here and
just I want to make him proud. If he gets the opportunity to watch me
one day or not, I've given it everything. Yeah, I'm very grateful, and
we are very grateful for him. It's not a bad thing. “

While she and Amanda’s
lives revolve around the baby during many hours of the day, she is also
cognizant to be a successful player that she has to make sure to take
care of her athletic needs. That means practicing, focusing on fitness
and making sure she gets enough rest.

“I'm very lucky I have
a very supportive partner, Amanda. She does most of the yuck night
feeds,” Dellacqua said after she beat Galina Voskoboeva 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in
Brisbane. “Last night I slept 12 hours. I got up 6:00 AM and took him
for a walk so she could get a few more hours. She's not playing
obviously. But I'm very lucky I have that support. We'll travel with
my mom or some other family on the road so that we have extra help on
the road as well. I'm not going to deny it. It's not going to be
easy. But I want my family with me. That's what I want, so we'll make
it work.”

Even though she has
struggled in singles, the Aussie tennis crowds still seem familiar -with
Dellacqua and will try and lift her to what would be a huge upset of
two-time defending Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka on New
Year’s Day. The cagey performer is counting on it.

“The crowd will
certainly be hoping for some good tennis,” she said. You know, hopefully
they'll obviously be for me more than for her.

I'm very excited with
the thought of playing someone like Vika just to really see where I'm
at. Obviously she’s definitely probably one of the best in the world.
It'll be another test for me and another challenge. I'm looking forward
to it. I've played some ITFs, but this is what you play for. You play
to play on the show courts and play with the best players in the world.”

Daily Tennis News—Business

Bob
Larson Tennis produces several tennis newsletters. One of these is Daily
Tennis News—Business. This publication is a daily report on the money in
tennis; Who is getting the money, Where does it come from,, What do they
do with it and Where does it go.

If you are interested in the business side of tennis, you
will find it interesting. For a free copy of Daily Tennis
News—Business, just send an email to
bob@tennisnews.com and say you want a sample.

ALSO NOTED

Wozniacki And McIlroy Are Engaged

Caroline
Wozniacki and boyfriend Rory McIlroy are set to create a tennis-golf
dynasty after announcing their engagement on New Year's Day via Twitter.

"Happy New Year everyone! Rory and I
started 2014 with a bang! ... I said YES," said former WTA number one
Wozniacki. McIlroy chimed in with a tweet of his own: "Happy New Year
everyone! I have a feeling it's going to be a great year!! My first
victory of 2014 #shesaidyes!!"

The young multimillionaires, together
since 2011 made the announcement at Sydney where Wozniacki is training
after withdrawing from this week's Brisbane event as a precautionary
move due to a shoulder injury.

The former No. 1 is hoping to play next
week in her only tune-up for the Australian Open, the Sydney
International.

The engagement comes only a few months
after reports circulated that the couple had split up, rumors which were
denied by both parties.

Tsonga Has No
Plan To Play Doubles In Melbourne

Despite
helping France to a first-ever Hopman Cup title alongside Alize Cornet,
with the tie decided by the mixed doubles rubber, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
will still not be adding the event to his grand slam to-do list anytime
soon.

The ATP No. 10 and teammate Cornet earned
the French victory 2-1 over Poland (Agnieszka Radwanska and Grzegorz
Panfil), giving the French a title at the mixed teams event on Perth on
a third try going back a decade. Excited as he was to have been on the
winning side, Tsonga will still have to limit his mixed exposure for the
sake of his form in the more important singles.

"In men's singles; it's very difficult
and when you expect to play a semis and final in the Grand Slam, it's
tough to play mixed doubles or even doubles for me - it's impossible. I
enjoy a lot doubles, I used to play doubles sometimes in the Davis Cup
and of course this week I got to play with Alize, so maybe at the end of
my career when I will be finished in singles we'll do something."

Tsonga will take a few days off prior to
arriving in Melbourne to face Roger Federer on Wednesday night at a
charity event at the Rod Laver arena. "I'm in holiday for a few days,
then I will play with Rodger. It's going to be a lot of fun. But I'm
really happy to win today, it's always good to hold the trophy and
tonight we did it and it was great."

PRO TOUR NEWS

MEN

Brisbane
Singles - Final: L Hewitt def. (1) R Federer 6-1 4-6 6-3
This looked much too much like the Roger Federer of 2013 -- the one who
couldn't find any answers. He said, "I didn't play great today, which is
a bit unfortunate -- but also Lleyton was the best player I played this
week. He made it toughest on me. So I have a clear idea what I need to
work on, and I have a clear idea where my mind and body is at.... I'm
very hungry and eager to attack the Australian Open next week."
He had better be, because this leaves him only 175 points ahead of Tomas
Berdych in the contest for #6, and he's 900 points behind #5 Juan Martin
del Potro. Federer is in real danger of slipping even lower in the
rankings.
Lleyton Hewitt has been struggling even longer than Federer -- this is
career title #29, but he said himself that it has been a "couple years"
since his last. In fact, it has been three and a half; his last victory
was at Halle 2010. Over none other than Federer! And it's Hewitt's first
win away from grass since Houston 2009. He naturally will make a big
rankings move -- we show him rising from #60 to #43.

Doubles - Final: (2) Fyrstenberg/Nestor def. (4) Cabal/Farah 6-7(4-7)
6-4 10-7
Everyone was expecting a major item for the record books today. And got
one, but it wasn't the one they expected. Roger Federer did not take
sole possession of the #3 spot on the all-time ATP titles list. But
Daniel Nestor won a title for the twenty-first year in a row! His first
came back at Bogota 1994 with Mark Knowles, and he has won at least one
in every year since then (his last, and his only title of 2013, being
Winston-Salem 2013 with Paes). That's 82 titles in all; he has now won
with eight different partners: Fyrstenberg, Knowles, Lareau, Mirnyi,
Paes, Stolle, Ullyett, Zimonjic. His ranking is still in the pits --
this is going to take him only to around #20 -- but it's obviously a
better start to the year than last year!
It's rather historic for Mariusz Fyrstenberg, too. He'll never threaten
Nestor's title total; this is only #15 for him. But it is the first time
he has taken a title with anyone other than Marcin Matkowski. It must be
nice to know he can do it with others.

Chennai
Singles - Final: (1) S Wawrinka def. (7) E Roger-Vasselin 7-5 6-2
There isn't much to say about this. Edouard Roger-Vasselin had only one
break chance against Stanislas Wawrinka, and he didn't take it, and
although the match was fairly close in general, Roger-Vasselin simply
couldn't do any damage. He still has a lot to celebrate -- just reaching
the final appears to have put him in the Top Forty.
Unlike Roger-Vasselin, Wawrinka won't be moving in the rankings. But
after struggling to win titles early in his career, he's now getting to
be fairly productive. This is career title #5, although all are
bottom-tier events. He has won titles in four of the last five years (he
missed in 2012), and he now, for the first time, has won a title twice;
he also won Chennai in 2011.

Doubles - Final: (4) Brunstrom/Nielsen def. Draganja/Pavic 6-2 4-6 10-7
It was surprisingly quick for such a close match -- just an hour and
sixteen minutes. Maybe 22-year-old Marin Draganja was too excited about
being in a final -- he came here with a career doubles record of just
2-8, so this is better than his entire career to this point. 20-year-old
Mate Pavic had ten doubles wins, so it isn't quite as new for him, but
he was probably nervous too -- he had lost both his two previous finals.
It's surely a relief for Frederick Nielsen: Finally, a title to show
that his Wimbledon 2012 victory wasn't a complete fluke. Just a very big
one.... For Johan Brunstrom, it's title #4 -- and three of them in the
last twelve months. They're all small (Gstaad 2010 with Nieminen, Nice
2013 and Metz 2013 with Klaasen, and now this), but still, three titles
on three different surfaces in the course of a year is pretty promising.

Doha
Singles - Final: (1) R Nadal def. G Monfils 6-1 6-7(5-7) 6-2
Rafael Nadal seems to have forgotten how to win easily. But he certainly
hasn't forgotten how to win.
It was a seesaw match, with Gael Monfils briefly earning a 3-0 lead in
the second set. Other than that, obviously, Nadal dominated. He thus
becomes the first player with a title this year. Fitting for the world
#1 -- and a player who just became an even stronger #1. He's now more
than 850 points ahead of Novak Djokovic, with Djokovic having the
Australian Open title to defend and Nadal having nothing. We definitely
have a big two right now, but it's equally clear which of the two is on
top.
The ATP notes that this is title #61 for Nadal, giving him sole
possession of the #8 spot on the all-time titles list.
Gael Monfils was only intermittently competitive, but he earned enough
points to rise to #26 and clinch his seed at Melbourne. And he still has
lots of room to add points.

WOMEN

Brisbane
Singles - Final: (1) Serena Williams def. (2) Victoria Azarenka 6-4 7-5
New year, same old story.
Victoria Azarenka was actually fairly competitive with Serena Williams
last year if you just count head-to-head. But as the year got longer,
Serena got stronger. She defended here pretty routinely. That's 22
straight wins. And she goes into the Australian Open with a lead of 5100
points on Azarenka, who has the Melbourne title to defend. It's quite
possible that Serena could leave Melbourne with a point total twice that
of her nearest competitor!

Doubles: Kudryavtseva/Rodionova def. Mladenovic/Voskoboeva 6-3 6-1
There seems to be something about this time of the year that Anastasia
Rodionova likes. Last year at this time, she won Auckland with Cara
Black. This year, she went for the big event -- and she won it. It's the
second title in a year for Kudryavtseva/Rodionova (they also won Quebec
City), but it's the first big title for either. Considering the
direction both have been going in singles, that's a pretty big thing!

Shenzhen
Singles - Final: (1) Li Na def. (5) Peng Shuai 6-4 7-5
It is apparently impossible to beat Li Na in Shenzhen. Fat lot of good
it does her.
Li easily defended her title, but because Maria Sharapova added points,
that actually costs Li; she will fall from #3 to #4. Of course, that
still translates into a Top Four Australian Open seed. But then she has
the Melbourne final to defend....
Our bigger winner, arguably, is Peng Shuai. Just getting to the final
puts her back in the Top Forty. But, of course, it still leaves her
without a singles title. Anna Kournikova Disease is very hard to
cure.... The one consolation is that she has a shot at the #1 doubles
ranking at the Australian Open. Which would make her like Kournikova in
another way....

Doubles - Final: Niculescu/Zakopalova def. Kichenok/Kichenok 6-3 6-4
Early in her career, Monica Niculescu looked as if she might end up as a
doubles specialist. Lately, that has changed -- she hasn't won a doubles
title since Moscow 2012. But evidently her skills aren't gone. She picks
up career title #4. For Klara Zakopalova, it's #3 -- although they're
all low-tier.

Auckland
Singles - Final: (2) Ana Ivanovic def. Venus Williams 6-2 5-7 6-4
No double Williams title after all, it seems. Still, this is an
impressive run for Venus, given her fatigue problems. And she does
benefit substantially -- we show her rising to #39. No Australian Open
seed, but at the rate she's going, a seed in Paris seems quite possible.
Ana Ivanovic earns her first title since Bali 2011. Because it's an
International event, it doesn't help her much -- but she does overtake
Sabine Lisicki to earn the #15 ranking. And she will go into the
Australian Open on a high note.

Doubles - Final: Fichman/Sanchez def. (3) Hradecka/Krajicek 2-6 6-0 10-4
By the looks of things, it's going to be a very surprising year. Lucie
Hradecka is a Slam winner; Michaela Krajicek has also had a good doubles
record; Fichman/Sanchez had no WTA doubles titles at all. We saw a
significant doubles shakeup last year; based on this week's results, it
could happen again.

MONEYBOARD

2013 Prize Money
Earnings

MEN

January 6, 2014

1 Nadal, Rafael

$193,520

2 Monfils, Gael

$99,325

3 Hewitt, Lleyton

$83,230

4 Wawrinka,
Stanislas

$73,540

5 Mayer, Florian

$56,685

6 Gojowczyk, Peter

$53,800

7 Federer, Roger

$46,760

8 Berdych, Tomas

$40,900

9 Roger-Vasselin,
Edouard

$38,180

10 Brands, Daniel

$33,540

WOMEN

January 6, 204

1

Serena Williams

$196,670

2

Na Li

$111,163

3

Victoria Azarenka

$104,890

4

Jelena Jankovic

$58,089

5

Maria Sharapova

$56,298

6

Shuai Peng

$55,323

7

Ana Ivanovic

$43,910

8

Annika Beck

$30,422

9

Alla Kudryavtseva

$28,789

10

Anastasia Rodionova

$25,745

THIS WEEK'S EVENTS

MEN
Auckland
Sydney

WOMENHobart
Sydney

NEXT WEEK'S EVENTS

MEN
Australian Open

WOMEN
Australian Open

CLASSIFIEDS

Tennis Job of the Day

Landings Club, Savannah, Georgia, is
seeking a pro. 912 508 8050.

Bob Larson’s Tennis
publishes Daily Tennis Jobs newsletter, a daily list of available tennis
jobs throughout the US market. Only $10 a month. For a free sample of
the current list, just email
bob@tennisnews.com and say you want a free sample of Jobs.

***

Tennis Job of the Week - Tennis Professional

One of the most
prestigious clubs in North Carolina with 1,500 members, 2 facilities
totaling 14 courts, 11 outdoor clay courts and 3 indoor hard courts, is
seeking a dynamic and high energy Tennis Professional with a recent high
level Collegiate and tournament playing background in addition to
a minimum 2 years of full time teaching experience.

Looking for a motivated
individual who is willing to work with a professional team to help
organize, teach and expand an already developed junior program of 100
players ( all levels-including 10-under to competitive players) as well
as work with 130 women team tennis players and 60 men players in
addition to teaching private lessons.

This position would
give a professional an opportunity to learn all aspects of the tennis
business that would help build a career as a future tennis director.

A
professional tennis photographer has been shooting for almost 40 years
at all the major and minor tennis tournaments for the wires systems,
daily newspapers, magazines and advertising agencies. He has been to
venues all over the world and has compiled tennis images (archives) of
all the professionals and some juniors. The images have all been
preserved in a temperature-controlled environment and are color
positives (slides), color and black & white negatives and contact
sheets, as well as digital. There are in excess of 400,000 images and
they are for sale. Seller will transfer copyright and will give total
usage to the purchaser. Lists available with players, tournaments,
dates, etc. For more information please contact 954-448-4999.